Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-11-24
IMITATION MAHOGANY.


Two small but elegant center-tables
stood in the show-windGw of fur
ni'ure store a few days ago and at
tracted the attention of passers' by
their graceful design and soft. rich
finish. Onc appeared to be of dark
mahogany. the other Of antique En-
glish oak.
imported stock?' was casually
asked.
':Not at all. responded the dealer;
'made right here at home"
why. 1 didn't know any foreign
woods were brought to this city in un-
manufactured form?"
"True enough; for what you are adj
miring as foreign goods are made
from trees which grow plentifully in
every Indiana forest That apparent
ly stylish mahogany table is first
class article of wild cherry. and the
antique oak is. not from England, but
probably from some white oak on the
KINKS Of White river.
Such clew to interesting develop
.ncnts could not DC disregarded, and
before many hours a reporter was in
the outskirts of the city prOwling about
among tall chimneys. climbing over
piles of lumber and rubbish, and in
quiring right and left for the object of
his search. At last large building.
from which issued the peculiar hum of
of woodworking machinery, was
reached.
$50 you want to know how it is
done, do you?" said the chief owner of
the establishment, after a hasty state
ment IF the causes leading to the visit.
"Well. there is very little to learn.
just come with me, and you can see it
al in a few minutes"
''Ihree or four years ago." began
the guide. st was found that our ma
tive woods could be stained in close inn
station of almost any of the high-priced
foreign stock, andsiIce that time the
industry has become extensive. BY
experiment and comparison we have
learned that cherry is the best
for the manufacture of mahoga-
my finish. though hard maple is
nuch used and answers the
purpose very well. The dyes we use
are all vegetable, and are the extra CT
Of certain woods which are common to
The chemical trade. Inferior work is
sometimes done by using aniline col
nrs, but they are apt TO fade unless
vanished as soon as dry. The furni-
ture is finished in the natural color of
the wood. as you see here. before
staining. Then the dye is applied
with brush, like varnish, AID it per-
mcates the pores so deeply that the
later sandpapering and polishing pro-
cesses do rot remove it.
This man." as workman was APP
preached who seemed to be sprinkling
-four on varnished table and wash
ing it off with handful of moist rags.
IS polishing the furniture. which is
the next to to the last stage of the
work. After staining. the wood is
vanished and sanipapercd alternate
ly. until the final coat of varnish is
very smooth and glossy. Then this
snsn here scours the gloss all off
with powdered pomice-stone. which
you see him using now. After that
! there remains but one process, the fin
is.iing in oil. The pom;ce-stone re-
irovcs the gloss bht. leaves the sur
face perfectly smooth and hard. Then
al rt,t,l wi !, nd Il ali hn,.-
:atson. until the soft finish which is so
much git after is obtained.
'.Furui ure stained and oiled in this
,naancr will not fade. and scratches
saw. rs they do on vanished finish.
We have delicate pinkish shale
,,,s Ave which is called natural cherry
-,nd which is about the color of cherry
wood which has been exposed to the
air for many years. Or mahogany
finish is easily dist;ngui>hable from
genuine mahogany. as it is considera-
bly, darker than the natural wood.
We can make it the same, but the de-
mand is for III, darker finish now. 1t
cnaDTeS every SeaSOi, anu tHe peopic
may want the lighter shades
next year As for orr antique oak. it
is made to resemble the English black
or boz oak. though it is really not
much Tx. it. 1t is prepared simply by
giving darker shade to ordinary
quarter oak, and
Don't know wha. quarter oak s.?
Il is Quartcred oak. A large log is
sawed into quarters. and then the quar-
TOYS sawed Into boards. This process
shows the grain of the wood. which is
very beautiful and is never seen the
same i'm two boards.
AS was saying. after the quarter
oak Is stained it must have its pores
6llcd with kind of putty like prepara-
ton to keep the surface prefectly
smooth. Then it is vanished, and
sandparered. and polished just as the
other kinds arc. Furniture of this
woot Is exceedingly popular. and it is
being applied to almost every use of
II, 7 fL;oly a